At just under six feet tall, with that shock of red hair and a Scottish burr, Karen Gillan does not go unnoticed in Los Angeles.

The Inverness native, 26, begins her graduation from television to film stardom, beginning Friday with Oculus, a horror thriller about a mirror with supernatural properties. (At the premiere of the scary film in L.A. last week, "The audience was just screaming!" says Gillan happily.)

Although she describes herself as "a nomad" for work, the actress has now moved to Los Angeles from her home in the U.K. There was a bit of culture shock, she admits.

"It took me a little while to find my feet here. It is quite different, just the obvious things, like the weather, and learning that you're supposed to tip everyone."

She laughs. "I really like it, and the opportunity available here is amazing."

Gillan got her start on a U.K. television show and in TV movies (such as Stacked), then won the role of Amy Pond on Dr. Who in 2010. That same year, she made her feature debut in a thriller called Outcast — although you can glimpse Gillan in the 2008 film, New Town Killers. She has also been in the films Not Another Happy Ending and the BBC's We'll Take Manhattan.

The former model has just shot the pilot for a new TV show called Selfie, a comedy inspired by My Fair Lady, and she'll appear later this summer in the highly-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy. In that film, Gillan plays the villain Nebula, a role for which she shaved her head.

That must have been — scary? Liberating?

"All of the above," she says, laughing again. "I've never had short hair in my life, so the last time I was bald was when I was born. I loved how extreme it was. I wanted to do something crazy for that because it was such a departure for me. If I could change my physical appearance, it really helped me play the role."

Gillan says playing the villainous Nebula was a great experience.

"I loved it! It felt like real acting, rather than just an extension of yourself. I mean, this is just such a different person! People were like, 'Where is this coming from?' They must have thought I had this weird dark side."

More than that, she cannot say about her Guardians of the Galaxy character.

Gillan knew from the age of about 13 that she wanted to be an actress.

"I was taking classes every single night after school and on the weekends," she says, "and as soon as I could, I moved away to pursue it."

At 16, she relocated to Edinburgh to study at Telford College; two years later, she moved to London to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school. She got acting jobs while she was still at school and never really looked back. Gillan, an only child, says her parents are her biggest cheerleaders. "They're so good. They never, ever showed any doubt. I think I grew up without the ability to doubt myself, which is a really nice gift they gave me."